Note: This grant opportunity uses a two-step application process. The instructions below are only for those applicants who have been invited to submit a full proposal based on their letter of inquiry. To learn more about this grant or begin an application, please start here.
If you have been invited to submit a full proposal:
Your grant proposal should consist of two PDF files that include the following materials:
The Searle Foundation has committed philanthropic seed funds to support investigator-initiated research. Applications are being solicited that propose significant and innovative translational, clinical, basic science, behavioral or population-based research. The intent of these grants is to support well-designed projects that will allow development of preliminary data to enable the investigators to be competitive for future federal or private funding. Interdisciplinary proposals are of particular interest.
Applicants can be early career or established investigators. At least one of the investigators in the proposal must hold a faculty position at Rush at the Assistant Professor level or above. Early investigators, women and members of groups underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral research are encouraged to apply. Inter-institutional or inter-disciplinary proposals are of particular interest. There are no citizenship or residency requirements.
Applicants for this RFP are strongly encouraged to develop a robust study design, data and statistical analysis, and tool development for the pilot proposal. This process could include development of a budget that may include effort and associated costs for a statistician/bioinformatics analyst for the project.
Each proposal will be evaluated by a review panel that includes members with experience and expertise in the field of the proposal. NIH criteria (see below) including provisions for compliance for the protection of human subjects, inclusion of women and underrepresented minorities, inclusion of children (if appropriate), protection of vertebrate animals and, the establishment of a data and safety monitoring board (when relevant). Award selection will be based on the top scores resulting from proposal review.
Reviewers will provide an overall impact/priority score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the 5 core review criteria described below.
Reviewers will consider each of the 5 review criteria below in the determination of scientific and technical merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.
Proposals should follow the format specifications for an R21 Research Plan, in accordance with the SF424 Application Guide for NIH and Other PHS Agencies. The Research Plan should have:
This section should state concisely the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact that the results of the proposed research will exert on the research field(s) involved. Also list succinctly the specific objectives of the research proposed, e.g., to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm or clinical practice, address a critical barrier to progress in the field, or develop new technology.
Organize the Research Strategy in the specified order using the instructions provided below. Start each section with the appropriate section heading: Significance, Innovation and Approach. Cite published experimental details in the Research Strategy section and provide the full reference in the Bibliography and References Cited section.
Regulatory approval is required for all grant applications. You must have an approved IRB and/or IACUC specifically for this project which cannot be linked to another funding source.